I Wore The Same 4 Outfits for 4 Weeks. Here is What Happened…

[This is the follow up to my Spending Less Time Getting Dressed! post.]

“Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly. It’s your masterpiece after all.”
-Nathan W. Morris

 

Week 1-2 Notes:

• I love it. Fewer options means less time deciding what to wear. Since I picked some of my favorite clothes, I’m always wearing something I like. I never have that silly urge to wear something just because I haven’t worn it in a while… even though the sleeves are too long, and it’s got a coffee stain, and it’s from the 90s.
• I’m so excited to pare down my wardrobe that I’ve already flagged 18 or 1/3 of my short-sleeved shirts to get rid of! Sorry not sorry, oversized polos – you’re dunzo.
• You can do this too by going through each item in your closet. Maybe limit yourself to one section at a time to make it easier to start. For each item, if it’s not a hell yes, I’d wear this shirt this week—if there’s any real hesitation—flip that hanger around to flag it or add it to a give-away pile in your closet. Later, donate or trash everything in that pile or with a flipped hanger.
• It can be hard to ditch your precious threads but anything that doesn’t look great on you or has noticeable stains or holes is ripe for pruning.
• Darker options can be your friend if, like me, your somehow mysteriously end up with food or other unidentifiable spots on your clothing from time to time.

 

Week 3-4 Notes:

• Ask for help: my partner Will was doing a load of laundry this week and he let me throw one of my Ts in that needed a full wash, which helped stretch out the time ‘til my next required load.
• Workout clothes and athleisure wear are probably the biggest challenge because they need more frequent and thorough cleaning. Fortunately, you can save yourself from doing extra laundry loads by taking gear in the shower with you and washing with Dr. Bronner castile soap—an all-purpose wonder—or soaking in Oxi Clean in a tub or spare bathroom sink. (Full disclosure: I’m not getting anything from these brands for saying this, though maybe I should be.) This works best with non-cotton blends, which dry faster and are less prone to wrinkling.

 

Whoomp, there it is…

• This was the spark I needed to do an aggressive shakedown of my wardrobe.
• A shopping paradigm shift: If I feel the need to get something new now, it will likely be a color, cut, etc. that I already know works, if not an exact clone of something I already own rather than something completely different.
• However, this experiment has shown me how few pieces of clothing I really need, which helps alleviate the already negligible shopping pressure I feel altogether.

 

What’s next? Drop me a line with any feedback. Also, please leave a comment with what you think my next experiment should be:

1. CrossFit 3x/week
2. Sensory Deprivation Therapy (Float Tank) 1x/week
3. Daily Meditation (10+ minutes)
4. Daily Intermittent Fasting (restricting eating to 8-12 out of 24hrs)
5. Your suggestion?

I will likely pause the experimentation for a few weeks as I’ll be embarking on one of the most popular global, longitudinal experiments in history: getting married. Cheers!